Willow Flycatcher

Empidonax trailliiOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Flycatchers (Tyrannidae)

Codes: Common Name: WIFL Scientific Name: EMPTRA ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178341

Breeding Location:

Bushes, shrubs, and thickets, Marshes, freshwater, Swamps

Breeding Type:

Monogamous

Breeding Population:

Fairly common

Egg Color:

White to pale buff with brown spots

Number of Eggs:

2 - 4

Incubation Days:

12 - 15

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Bark, grass, rootlets, and bits of plant.

Migration:

Migratory

General

Willow Flycatcher: Small flycatcher with brown-olive upperparts, white throat contrasting with paler breast, and white to pale yellow belly. Head has darker cap and faint white eye rings. Wings are dark with two white bars. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Willow Flycatcher: Breeds from southern British Columbia, Alberta, North Dakota, New York, and Maine south to central California, Nevada, the southwest, Arkansas, and Virginia. Spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include swampy thickets, upland pastures, and old abandoned orchards; also occurs along wooded lakeshores and streams.

Breeding and Nesting

Willow Flycatcher: Two to four brown spotted, white to pale buff eggs are laid in a neat, compact cup of plant down and fibers built in a low bush or sapling. Incubation ranges from 12 to 15 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Willow Flycatcher: Feeds on insects; forages in flight, sometimes picking insects from foliage.

Readily Eats

Meal Worms

Vocalization

Willow Flycatcher: Call is a wheezy "fitz-bew" or "pit-speer." Song is a burry "fee-bee-o", descending more abruptly in pitch.

Similar Species

Willow Flycatcher: Alder Flycatcher has a shorter bill, more prominent eye-ring, and less brown on upperparts.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Willow Flycatcher

Willow Flycatcher: Small flycatcher, brown-olive upperparts, white throat contrasting with paler breast, white to pale yellow belly. Head has darker cap, faint white eye rings. Dark wings with two white bars. Feeds on insects, spiders, berries. Weak fluttering flight with shallow rapid wing beats.

● Song: "fitz-bew", "fritz-be-yew"

● Foraging & Feeding: Willow Flycatcher: Feeds on insects; forages in flight, sometimes picking insects from foliage.

● Breeding & nesting: Willow Flycatcher: Two to four brown spotted, white to pale buff eggs are laid in a neat, compact cup of plant down and fibers built in a low bush or sapling. Incubation ranges from 12 to 15 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Willow Flycatcher: Alder Flycatcher has a shorter bill, more prominent eye-ring, and less brown on upperparts.

Flight Pattern

Weak fluttering flight with shallow wing beats.

● Range & Habitat: Willow Flycatcher: Breeds from southern British Columbia, Alberta, North Dakota, New York, and Maine south to central California, Nevada, the southwest, Arkansas, and Virginia. Spends winters in the tropics. Preferred habitats include swampy thickets, upland pastures, and old abandoned orchards; also occurs along wooded lakeshores and streams.

^BreedingMonogamous

^PopulationFairly common

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.5 Ounces

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Belly

The ventral part of the bird, or the area between the flanks on each side and the crissum and breast. Flight muscles are located between the belly and the breast.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

Cap

The area on top of the head of the bird.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America